The rise in the
interest of urban conservation over the past years has led to search for a more
effective decision-making and appropriate assessment. Conservation of historic
centers in England aims to achieve important goals with social benefits and
increasingly the improving urban qualities. Despite this positive
consciousness, some conservation initiatives do not deliver their goals at the
right time while others do not maintain their success for longer periods. This
striking phenomenon is often due to the lack of sustainable management. The aim
of this study is to explore the concept of sustainable management with
particular focus on the conservation of historic centers and to introduce an
assessment tool to measure the degree of success in conserving historic
centers. The study focuses on two English case studies: Bath and Cambridge City
Centers; investigating their visions, policies and strategies with relevance to
the feedback of local communities and responsible authorities. The study
utilizes the assessment tool to clarify the crucial need for an effective
management framework based on the relationships of the factors of ‘importance’
and ‘performance.'